Culture Shock
by Oni-Gil
Summary: Adopted from the TF bunny farm. Seekers have their own culture that other 'bots don't fully understand... which is how Megatron ended up accidentally proposing to Starscream. And Starscream has no intention of letting him back out of it...


**A/N:** Merry Christmas, unless you don't swing that way, in which case I just invite you to join me in enjoying the general good-feeling-ness of the season. Anyway, it wouldn't be fair not to extend the same good-feeling-ness to our favorite Decepticons, would it?

Spawned from a bunny at the bunny farm. I hope I managed to keep them in character... I mean, with something like _this_... but Starscream remains backstabby and snarky and Megatron remains, well, Megatron. :) Enjoy!

* * *

It was a solar cycle much like any other on the bridge of the Nemesis.

//_Dinner and a show_,// Skywarp commed to Thundercracker, idly sipping his energon as he watched the typical performance of their commanders: glares to arguments to insults to blows. It didn't matter what the fight was over this time and it _never_ mattered who was actually right. Things came to their inevitable conclusion. Starscream sprawled on the deck, intakes cycling rapidly as he trembled, armor dented and wings bent, energon pooled beneath him; Megatron stood over him, radiating fury, fists clenched and optics flared.

Then the act changed. Megatron reached down, offering a hand to help Starscream up. It was completely out of character, probably an attempt to be condescending, but that wasn't what made the three Seekers stare.

//_This show just got a _lot_ more interesting,// _TC replied.

* * *

Megatron didn't like the wide-opticked stare Starscream was giving him. His annoyance only grew as the other two Seekers snickered quietly, glancing at each other, at Megatron, then at Starscream. The Air Commander himself, after the initial moment of surprise, looked over at his wingmates. By the dimming of their optics, he could tell that they had a rapid conversation in databursts. TC and Skywarp nodded almost imperceptibly, and Starscream looked back up at him, smirking.

"All right," he said, something uncomfortably close to a purr in his voice. He reached up and took Megatron's hand, pulling himself up. "I accept."

"What do you mean?" Megatron tried to extricate his hand from Starscream's grasp and failed. Starscream's smirk widened and his signal nagged at Megatron's comm., requesting a link. Megatron opened it.

_//Your proposal of a bond.//_

"_WHAT?!_" Megatron bellowed, yanking away from Starscream as though he carried a critical virus. The others looked at them oddly. To spare himself further embarrassment, he snapped, "All of you but Starscream and his trine are dismissed."

The rest of the Decepticons left without complaint. Megatron rounded on his Seekers, leveling a glare at their leader. "What do you mean, my proposal? Why would I ever want to bond with _you_?!"

"In Vos," Starscream said delicately, "when one defeats another in battle… however one-sided that battle may be… and then gives assistance in standing, it is seen as an offer for a permanent bond."

"What kind of custom is _that?!_" Starscream shrugged, his smirk never once fading. "In that case I _retract_ that proposal."

"Too late," put in Skywarp unhelpfully, looking far too cheerful.

"You offered, my trine approved, and I accepted," said Starscream. "You can't retract the offer now."

Megatron growled, baring his dental plates. "And if I refuse to participate?"

All three sets of optics turned hard, though the Seekers were still smiling.

"That," Starscream said, his voice almost a hiss, low and threatening and poisonous, "would be unwise."

Megatron could best then one at a time, but he wasn't sure he could beat all three so soundly that they would never bring up the matter again. Normally he had no cause to doubt Skywarp's and Thundercracker's loyalty, but now that the three stood united against him, backed by astrocycles of Seeker tradition… He couldn't risk losing the trine, his biggest edge against the Autobots, though he hated to admit it.

"And when," he growled, trying to preserve his dignity, even as he conceded, "is the act to take place?" He couldn't even bring himself to say the word. With _Starscream_. The Seeker would never let him forget it, either, even if one _could_ forget something written into one's Spark.

"Traditionally, the first solar cycle of the next orbit," Starscream answered, triumph in his tone.

"Leaving you three solar cycles to prepare," finished Thundercracker.

Not enough time to arrange a battle with the Autobots at the appointed time. Slag it all.

* * *

He _had_ to get himself into these things, Megatron reflected angrily, swiping away the last of the polish. He positively gleamed in the light of his quarters… if he had to go through with this, slaggit, he could at least _look_ better than Starscream. Some battle scars simply wouldn't be masked, so he left them. Besides, one never knew with Seekers. Perhaps wounds were seen as marks of prestige, an indication of the battles a warrior had fought. After a short—_very _short—moment of consideration, he left his fusion cannon as it was. Cultural taboo or not, he wasn't going into a situation such as this with a mech such as his infamously untrustworthy second-in-command unarmed.

Megatron needn't even have considered, for when the three Seekers entered he saw the slim null-rays gleaming from Starscream's arms… clearly Starscream didn't want to go into this without protection either. Not for the first time the Decepticon commander marveled at how the relatively tiny weapons held such power. Not unlike the small flier himself.

He made the mistake of looking at Starscream and everything else was forgotten. Clearly his wingmates had spent megacycles cleaning and polishing him, for he almost glowed red and white. It took Megatron a moment to realize that Starscream, too, sported proud scars. Given the mech's vanity Megatron had assumed he'd have done his best to mask them. Instead they seemed to have been enhanced, each one standing out against the perfectly polished armor. Perhaps he had been right about Seekers after all.

"We'll be back," Skywarp chirped, right before he and Thundercracker vanished.

Uncertain and trying not to show it, Megatron turned to his second. "Explain the usual procedure."

"Those to be bonded always have a breem to themselves before the bonding… usually for introductions," Starscream answered.

"Introductions?"

"Often the two have never met," the Seeker replied. He turned away and took a few steps in the opposite direction, crossing his arms over his cockpit. His voice, usually full of smugness or anger, was oddly flat. "Among my kind it isn't uncommon. We bond for power. The family unit and the family's status are central in our culture. One always tries to bond with one with power. By Vosian standards we are ideally suited for one another… the two highest-ranking mechs of the Decepticons."

While Starscream was speaking, Megatron had been analyzing his tone and body language. The conclusion surprised him.

Starscream was just as nervous as Megatron was.

_Then why do this?_ Megatron wondered, but before he could ask, Skywarp and Thundercracker came back.

"We're ready," the blue flier said. Megatron looked from Starscream to his wingmates and back.

"You said nothing about—"

"You don't have to bond with them," interrupted Starscream, guessing his concern. "But they are my family unit, my trine. They bear witness."

_Interesting custom,_ Megatron thought as Starscream approached, stopping barely arm's length from him. For a klik he hesitated.

_//The one who offered initiates the bond,//_ Starscream commed, looking anywhere but at his commander. Unsure how to start and still understandably reluctant, Megatron reached out and pulled the smaller mech closer. Starscream's optics flickered with apprehension, reassuring Megatron somewhat. He was not the only one navigating unfamiliar territory. He had Sparkmerged before, casually, and he was certain that Starscream had as well, but this was different. Firstly, it was a bond, something that couldn't be undone. Secondly, it was _Starscream_, the last mech he'd ever think to bond with, a traitor to Megatron if not to the cause.

It was impossible to turn back now. Megatron drew his thumb down the central seam of Starscream's chestplate, his other hand resting on the Seeker's waist. There would be time for the more… sensuous aspects of this act later, when the other two weren't watching. (And as much as the thought made his logic processors stall, he would admit that he looked forward to it; for all that he was petty, arrogant, and disloyal, Starscream had a nice chassis and those wings seemed _designed _for temptation.)For now, he got down to business, his own chestplate parting tentatively, numerous layers of armor sliding aside to reveal his Spark. He coaxed Starscream's chest open and caught himself staring. Starscream's Spark was brighter than any he had ever seen. It glowed softly blue, pulsing rapidly with swirling emotions.

Starscream's hands rested on Megatron's arms, stopping him from continuing. He didn't even comm. to wait, but his actions made it clear that he wanted to pause. Megatron could see his own gold Spark reflected in the flier's optics. Finally Starscream nodded, cycled an intake, and without waiting for Megatron, pushed forward and brought their Sparks into contact. Electricity surged through all of Megatron's neural lines and from Starscream's shudders and cries the same was happening to the other mech. Megatron pulled him closer still until they were flush against each other as Starscream merged their Sparks fully. The sensations flooding through their combined Sparks made both of them offline their optics. Megatron felt Starscream's hands on his helm, tilting his face down. It was more a convenient method of muffling the undignified noises they were making than a kiss, but whatever the idea behind it, it was enjoyable. The heat radiating from their Sparks made Starscream's armor hot against Megatron's. The Seeker's armor rattled in a shiver as his neural lines released excess power as static, tickling Megatron's wiring where it danced under his armor.

Starscream overloaded with a shriek and with scrabbling claws gouging new scrapes in Megatron's armor. His Spark flared bright in and around Megatron's and the extra energy made the larger mech roar and join his Seeker in an overload that felt like dying.

The spare energy dissipated through heat and he relaxed what he now realized had been a crushing hold on his second. Starscream gave a barely audible groan, extracting himself from Megatron and closing his chest.

And that was that, Megatron realized, meeting Starscream's optics for a nano-klik before the flier looked quickly away. He was bonded to the least trustworthy mech in his army.

Still, there were advantages. It was said that a bondmate's death resulted in unimaginable pain for the other. Perhaps Starscream would take pains _not_ to shoot Megatron in the back from now on. And there was always the, ah, positive reinforcement, he acknowledged. Maybe his Seeker… his _bondmate_, and wouldn't _that_ take getting used to… would be more eager to earn a suitable… reward from time to time. Maybe Megatron would even reward him for the smaller successes as well… as long as more of those processor-blowing overloads were in store…

* * *

**A/N:** Well, you'd be loopy after a nice overload too, yes? XD Thanks for reading!


End file.
